Adele - the Finest Soul Singer

Adele, dubbed as “the next Amy Winehouse” by the U.K Press, is a popular soul singer around the world. Her contralto vocal range and pure tone receive well acclaim from the critics and her singing is so charming that unknowingly we will be dragged into her world.

Adele's first album, 19, is of the soul genre, with lyrics describing heartbreak and relationship; and 21 is of “a break-up record” while Adele labelled her third studio album 25 as a "make-up record", adding it was about "Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did." Adele stated, "I've had a lot of regrets since I turned 25. And sadness hits me in different ways than it used to. There're a lot of things I don't think I'll ever get 'round to doing."

Adele’s Achievements

Adele signed a contract with XL Recordings in September 2006 and later won the BBC Sound of 2008, an annual poll awarded to recognize newcomers in the music industry. In 2012, Adele was the first solo female artist to have three singles in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and two albums in the top 5 of the Billboard 200 and two singles in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.

In February 2013, Adele was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom and In June 2013, Adele was appointed a MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to music. In 2014, Adele was already being regarded as a British cultural icon associated with UK Culture and in 2016, Adele had been twice listed on the Time 100 list of most influential people.

Over these years, Adele has received various awards and nominations. She is the recipient of nine Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Grammy Awards, eighteen Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards.

Representative Singles

Adele, as a singer-songwriter, is very famous for composing break-up songs. To some extents, Adele’s songs are a solace to listeners. The blue melody and the stunning voice can magically heal the broken hearts with brokenhearted songs. Here we will list 5 most popular singles to share:

1. Chasing Pavements

Album: 19

Released: 2008

Awards: Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Background: The song was inspired by an incident Adele had with a former boyfriend of six months. After learning he had cheated on her, she went to the bar he was at and punched him in the face. After being thrown out, Adele walked down the street alone and thought to herself, "What is it you're chasing? You're chasing an empty pavement." She sang and recorded it and arranged the chords when she got home.

2. Rolling in the Deep

Album: 21

Released: 2011

Awards: Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Billboard Music Award for Top Streaming Song, MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction …

Background: The song was reportedly inspired by a Nashville-schooled US tour bus driver, and composed by Epworth and Adele in a single afternoon following Adele's breakup with her boyfriend. It was "her reaction to, 'being told that my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish, and that I was a weak person if I didn't stay in the relationship. I was very insulted, and wrote that as a sort of "fuck you".'"

3. Someone like You

Album: 21

Released: 2011

Awards: NRJ Music Award for International Song of the Year, Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance

Background: Adele said that she began writing it in the wake of the break-up of her 18-month relationship with the 30-year-old man she thought she would marry. A few months after their split, he was engaged to someone else. "We were so intense I thought we would get married. But that was something he never wanted... So when I found out he does want that with someone else, it was just the horrible-est feeling ever. But after I wrote it, I felt more at peace. It set me free... I didn't think it would resonate... with the world!

4. Skyfall

Album: Immersion

Released: 2012

Awards: Brit Award for British Single, Academy Award for Best Original Song, Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media,…

Background: Skyfall is the theme song, co-written by Adele and producer Paul Epworth, of the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall. Epworth stated that the producers' request was for "a dramatic ballad", so he and Adele tried to "do something that was simultaneously dark and final, like a funeral, and to try and turn it into something that was not final. It’s about "death and rebirth". The lyrics closely follow the narrative of the film rather than focusing on romanticism.

5. Hello

Album: 25

Released: 2015

Awards: Brit Award for British Single, Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Billboard Music Award for Top Selling Song …

Background: Lyrically, the song focuses on themes of nostalgia and regret and plays out like a conversation. Adele told Nick Grimshaw on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show: "I felt all of us were moving on, and it's not about an ex-relationship, a love relationship, it's about my relationship with everyone that I love. It's not that we have fallen out, we've all got our lives going on and I needed to write that song so they would all hear it, because I'm not in touch with them." According to Adele, the line "Hello from the other side" signifies "the other side of becoming an adult, making it out alive from your late teens, early twenties."

Adele and Streaming Music Services

In 2015, Adele’s decision to withhold 25 from Streaming Music Services such as Apple Music and Spotify trigged a great splash among the Streaming music fans. She told the magazine that she’s excited about the new album’s release but she won’t use streaming, “I buy my music. I download it, and I buy a physical [copy] just to make up for the fact that someone else somewhere isn’t. It’s a bit disposable, streaming." But for some reasons, Adele’s well-received album came to Streaming Music Services again after seven months. This event caused a big stir. Some people strongly supported Adele while others were really annoyed and argued that the streaming services were the future.

Tips:

Actually, most people do not know that there is an access to make Streaming Music not disposable. You can download them to your computer and keep them forever even if you unsubscribe the streaming services.

The songs in Streaming Music Services are DRM-protected so that we can’t copy any of them on the platforms. We can enjoy the music while we subscribe the service but once the subscription is cancelled, none of them work. How to make the music playable after cancelling the subscription? You’ll find all the answers here.

Regardless of what other people said, I will always support Adele. She’s the finest soul singer in my heart forever. Many fans are worried that Adele won’t have sad records any more for Adele’s brighter love life. Rolling Stone interviewed with Adele imagining what would happen if she were in a stable relationship. Adele joked, “My fans will be like, ‘No music! Babe! Please! Get divorced!’” Haha…No, my babe! We wish you happy marriage and expect to hear your love songs.